By Kellen Olshefski
SLN Staff
The City of Elkhorn Common Council voted in favor of a resolution Monday night that would allow the city to reimburse itself for costs incurred before it receives loans for the addition to the utilities facility on Koopman Lane.
City Finance Director James Heilman said Monday night with the uncertainty of whether or not the city will receive funds through the Wisconsin DNR’s Safe Drinking Water Loan for the addition, the city could go through traditional bond issues if it does not receive funds. Through this method, Heilman said the city could reimburse itself for architectural and engineering services from those funds.
However, Heilman said if the city were to purchase equipment or start work prior to approval of the issue of those bonds, it would not be able to reimburse itself currently.
With the passing of the resolution, the city would be able to reimburse itself for any costs incurred prior to the bond issue from the proceeds of the bond.
“So, it’s just a way to cover yourself if a situation should arise,” Heilman said.
The resolution allows the city to reimburse itself up to $2 million, which Heilman said is more than the estimated cost of the addition.
City Utilities Director John Murphy said the city received approval from the Wisconsin Public Service Commission for just over $1 million, on par with the engineer’s estimate.
With the Koopman Lane facility addition being pulled from the Safe Water Drinking Loan application with the water treatment facility, Heilman said Monday night the council would probably know if it received the loan somewhere around April or May of 2017.
Heilman said there’s no guarantee, as the DNR and the Safe Drinking Water Loan is favoring the replacement of lead pipes at this time. For Elkhorn, he said this leaves some uncertainty as to how important the Koopman Lane project would be ranked amongst others throughout the state.
A motion to approve was approved unanimously by the council.
